July 2, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer

The words BYU coach Dave Rose delivers to his players aren't much different from comments made in meeting rooms across the country each year.

Cherish every moment. Appreciate every day.

Only in this case, the familiar message carries a whole new meaning.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Rose didn't know whether he would get a chance to coach BYU this season. Frankly, he had much more pressing concerns.

After undergoing emergency surgery for pancreatic cancer earlier this month, Rose announced last week that his tumor had been removed and that his cancer was in remission. He plans to coach the Cougars for the 2009-10 season.

Rose's announcement represented the latest twist in an offseason full of emotional ups and downs.

"It's definitely been a roller coaster," BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette said in a phone interview. "Our emotions were very down at the beginning. We weren't knowing if he's going to be coaching again or even alive for a long period of time. You don't know what's going to happen. We definitely were down and hoping for the best and praying. To hear the news that he's going to be OK, it's a great relief."

BYU has a knack for dealing with adversity. You don't win three consecutive Mountain West Conference regular-season titles without figuring out how to overcome obstacles.

But nothing could have prepared the Cougars for the events of the past month.

Rose's health scare actually began during a family vacation. The Roses were on the last day of a trip to Disneyland when Rose began to feel light-headed. His condition worsened on a flight to Las Vegas.

He was assisted off the plane and taken to Spring Valley Hospital, where it was discovered he had begun bleeding internally. That's when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the most serious forms of the disease because symptoms rarely occur until late in the process. The silver lining for Rose is that he had a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of the disease with a much more successful record of treatment.

"We live in a time when we can deal with this," Rose said in a press conference last week. "I've got to be smart and do what I'm supposed to do, but I believe that if I take this challenge the way it's supposed to be taken and accept it, and if I listen to those who can help me, then everything is going to work out just fine."

Rose also addressed his players and let them know exactly what he had learned from this sobering experience.

"Coach is a guy who tries to keep his emotions inside," Fredette said. "He doesn't like to broadcast things to a lot of people. But he opened up a little more and talked about life a little more. He talked about having to enjoy relationships and how he's very lucky. He considers himself a lucky guy that he's still on this earth."

Fredette doesn't expect Rose's health status to serve as a distraction as BYU begins its quest for a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament bid. He instead believes the situation will make the Cougars more focused than ever.

The Cougars lose leading scorer Lee Cummard from the team that went 25-8 last season, but they return their other four starters. BYU received a big boost when 6-foot-6 forward Jonathan Tavernari withdrew his name from NBA draft consideration to return for his senior year.

And now they got an even larger emotional lift.

"I can promise you this," Rose said. "I will appreciate every day. I will appreciate every practice. I will appreciate every game more than I have before."

Teams across the nation like to talk about playing each game as though it's their last. When the Cougars make those comments this season, they won't merely be speaking in clich? They'll be drawing from their own experience.

"I think it's made us a little more focused," Fredette said. "You have to work hard and enjoy every minute you have. We've experienced that firsthand with Coach. We're all pretty motivated to be the best we can, while we can."

NCAA changes criteria

How have they done in their last 12 games?

That was the popular question asked about every bubble team as fans put together their mock NCAA tournament brackets toward the end of each regular season.

Now that question isn't nearly as important.

The NCAA indicated this week that it would no longer use how a team has fared in its last 12 games as one of the selection criteria when it picks the 65-team tournament field.

"Parsing a particular segment of games and implying it had greater weight than others seemed misleading and inconsistent," committee chair and SEC commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement released by the NCAA. "The removal of this reference avoids confusion in the room and brings our reporting in line with our process."

The arbitrary nature of the "last 12 games" criterion may have helped a couple of teams earn bids the past two seasons.

Arizona earned one of the last remaining at-large bids in the 2009 bracket despite heading into the tournament with five losses in its last six games. Arizona had won six in a row before that skid, so its mark over its last 12 games was a much more respectable 7-5.

Villanova had gone 7-5 over its last 12 games ? but 7-9 over its last 16 contests ? when it was the lowest-seeded team to make the 2008 tournament.

Then again, those two examples showed that the 12-game criterion might have been a pretty good indicator of potential tournament success. The 2008 Villanova team and the 2009 Arizona squad both advanced to the Sweet 16.

TIP-INS

? The Lance Stephenson soap opera finally reached a conclusion this week when the 6-6 forward signed with Cincinnati. The fact that so many schools shied away from the No. 11 prospect in the nation suggests he may be more trouble than he's worth, but if Stephenson lives up to his potential, he could make Cincinnati a team to watch. The Bearcats already planned to return all five starters from a team that was in NCAA contention last season before falling apart down the stretch. The Bearcats also welcome Oklahoma State transfer Ibrahima Thomas and redshirt freshman point guard Cashmere Wright, a former top-100 prospect who sat out the 2008-09 season with a knee injury. The Bearcats certainly have the talent to reach the tournament if they avoid another late-season collapse.

? The Henry brothers' flirtation with Kentucky on Tuesday nearly had editors of preview magazines across the country scurrying to alter their preseason top 25, but they decided instead to honor their commitments to Kansas, the team most likely to open the season ranked first in the nation. But wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall the next time the Henrys meet guard Sherron Collins? The Henry controversy began with a Kansas City Star profile in which Carl Henry, the father of C.J. and Xavier, reportedly called C.J. a better player than Collins. C.J. Henry was redshirted by Memphis last season. Collins played on the Jayhawks' 2007-08 national championship team and helped lead them to the Sweet 16 last season.

? Seven of the 12 coaches in the SEC ? including conference newcomers John Calipari at Kentucky, Anthony Grant at Alabama and Mark Fox at Georgia ? are making at least $1 million per season, according to a report this week in The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun. The idea of placing a cap on coaches' salaries was floated around at a Knight Commission meeting last month. "If you'd offer me tenure, I might be interested in a salary cap," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said Monday at the SEC coaches' summer teleconference. Pearl noted that eight SEC teams have made coaching changes in the last four years. "If you provided more job security, I'd be happy to accept less pay," Pearl said.

? Duke forward Kyle Singler likely will be more of a perimeter player this season, but Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski indicated at a news conference this week that such a shift was already in the works even before guard Elliot Williams decided to transfer to Memphis. Williams' departure leaves Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and walk-on Jordan Davidson as the Blue Devils' only guards. Duke's two incoming freshmen are 6-9 forward Ryan Kelly (the No. 20 recruit in the nation) and 6-10 forward Mason Plumlee (the No. 55 prospect in the nation). "You adjust to the people you have," Krzyzewski said. "I don't see us picking up full-court man and dogging somebody with Kyle on a 5-11 guy. We are not going to do that."

? Williams reportedly considered Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Kentucky before deciding to transfer to Memphis. Williams, who grew up in Memphis, is leaving Duke because of undisclosed health concerns involving his mother. "If this situation wasn't happening, we wouldn't be talking right now," Williams told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "But it did happen, and I just wanted to pick the perfect school. What better way to come back home than to play in front of the people that have been supporting me since high school?" Williams is seeking a waiver of the NCAA rule that requires transfers to sit out a year before playing at their new school. Two years ago, the NCAA granted a similar waiver for Tennessee forward Tyler Smith when he transferred from Iowa to be closer to his ailing father, who died of lung cancer in the summer of 2007.

? Jack Ramsay is best known for his lengthy pro coaching career, but he sent St. Joseph's to the 1966 Final Four long before he was leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA title. St. Joseph's is naming its new basketball facility after Ramsay and officially dedicated the Ramsay Basketball Center on Friday. The 20,000-square-foot addition to the old Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse will serve as the new home for the men's and women's basketball programs. "I am honored beyond words," Ramsay said.

? Michigan's recruiting class took a hit this week when incoming freshman forward Jordan Morgan underwent surgery on his left knee. The procedure will require four to five months of recuperation, Michigan coach John Beilein said. Rivals.com rated Morgan as a three-star prospect.

? Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has been named the chairman of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee for 2010-11. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero will fill those duties in the upcoming year.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.